20/20 Project

TO LIFE! Christine Flaherty, executive director of LIFENET, spoke April 20 at Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Sparta, about the 20/20 Project. This effort by a non-denominational coalition of pro-life organi­zations throughout New Jersey seeks to promote the reality that unborn babies feel pain by 20 weeks in the womb and to lobby for a state prohibition on abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization by 2020. At right, participants and audience members at the gathering hold up the Project’s car magnets that show an image of a baby’s two footprints.

SPARTA Earlier this year, a non-denominational coalition of pro-life organizations throughout New Jersey, including many Catholic groups, banded together to launch the groundbreaking 20/20 Project. The initiative’s name hints at the two major goals that it seeks to accomplish: to promote the reality that unborn babies feel pain by 20 weeks in the womb and to lobby for a state prohibition on abortions after 20 weeks post-fertilization by 2020.

An enthusiastic and diverse gathering of pro-life activists from around Sussex County met at Our Lady of the Lake (OLL) Parish here on April 20 to listen to Christine Flaherty, executive director of LIFENET, speak about the ambitious — but attainable — mission of the 20/20 Project, which she helped develop and initiate. The campaign arms pro-lifers with information, images and stories that reinforce the truth — of the humanity of the baby in the womb — that is promoted through car magnets, phone stickers, pamphlets, prayers, a special web site, a Twitter social-media account and even a model of a pre-born baby at 20 weeks. It also has been helping to coordinate grass-roots efforts to promote the cause and a campaign to lobby members of the State Assembly and Senate to pass the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in hopes that the governor at the time of their passages would sign the measure into law.

“This [20/20 Project] is a God thing. Children are dying [from abortion] in large numbers everyday in New Jersey. God, our Father, hears the screams of these babies in the womb and calls all of us to the pro-life movement,” said Flaherty of LIFENET, based in the Newark Archdiocese, which promotes Respect for Life and the virtue of chastity. “We need to relate the horrors of abortion but we also need to use language that will resonate with people. Instead of going negative — saying ‘stop abortion,’ we could go positive — saying that we are promoting equal rights for babies in the womb,” she said.

The audience included non-denominational collection of local politicians, pro-life activists and religious leaders. They included State Sen. Steve Oroho; Sussex County Freeholder Sylva Petillo; Dian Koster, president of Sussex County Right to Life; and Christine Levin, a member of OLL’s Respect Life Committee, who helped organize the event. Flaherty noted that Project 20/20 takes its cues from the successes of past social movements by developing and strategy and sticking to it and by developing a comprehensive strategy — new concept for the prolife movement that makes this initiative groundbreaking. The growing and diverse coalition of supporters includes the Respect Life offices of the Newark Archdiocese and the Metuchen Diocese, N.J. Right to Life and the N.J. Policy Council, Flaherty said.

During her multi-media presentation, Flaherty introduced activists to the project’s website, www.babiesinthewombfeelpain.com, which provides them information; the Twitter handle, #TheyFeelPain, which keeps them connected to the cause; and a pamphlet. The flyer contains many pieces of shocking information, such as the fact that more than 44,460 abortions were performed in New Jersey in 2014 — the second-highest rate in the U.S. behind New York State. Then, Flaherty showed “This Is Abortion,” a short but deeply disturbing video that depicts the aftermath of abortion, which she told activists to show people, only after giving them a disclaimer.

“Growing scientific evidence demonstrates that babies in the womb feel pain as measured by abortions per 1,000 women of reproductive age,” Flaherty said. “Increased sensitivity is due to the fact that neural mechanisms that inhibit pain sensation do not begin to develop until 32-34 weeks post-fertilization and are not complete until several weeks after birth,” said Flaherty, who suggested that activists refer post-abortive people to Rachel Vineyard retreats. The Paterson Diocese Respect Life Office will hold the next retreat in Morris County on Friday, June 30. Call (973) 377-1004, ext. 425 to attend.

On a positive note, Flaherty also displayed the project’s adorable logo for car magnets and stickers: an image of a baby’s two footprints, encircled by a blue ring that features its web-site address and Twitter handle. She asked people to recite the official prayer of the 20/20 Project. In addition, Flaherty asked activists to submit prayer intentions for unborn babies and their families to be read at services in their congregations and deliver a three-minute announcement from the pulpit after the services, approved by the N.J. Catholic Conference, the public policy arm of the state’s bishops. Pro-lifers can set up pro-life information tables at their houses of worship or in their communities — “happy, non-threatening places” that display the stickers, pamphlets and balloons, said Flaherty, who noted that prayer cards, stickers and pamphlets can be ordered from the Project’s website.

Additionally, Flaherty has been working with NJ Right to Life to organize a more coordinated lobbying effort in Trenton, which includes activists slated to attend a “meet and greet” event with state representatives there on Thursday, May 25. Also, she has been encouraging activists to meet with their State representatives to educate them and advocate for the two pro-life measures, A-3452 in the Assembly and S-2026 in the Senate. Flaherty suggested that they educate lawmakers with project materials, show them “This Is Abortion” or let them hold a model of a baby at 20 weeks post-fertilization. To stay more connected, activists can ask Flaherty to be placed a list, so they can participate in conference calls on the last Tuesday of the month at 7 p.m., said the featured speaker, who noted that the baby models can be ordered online at hh76.com.

“We need to take incremental steps [in achieving an end to abortion]. We care about child before 20 weeks, but we need to start somewhere,” said Flaherty, who noted that passing an amendment to the U.S. Constitution to ban all abortions — the pro-life movements ultimate goal — would require an ambitious two-thirds majority approval in the U.S. Senate, U.S. Congress and the State legislatures.

Near the conclusion of the pro-life event at OLL, Sen. Oroho, who represents all of Sussex County and parts of Morris and Hunterdon counties, seemed more hopeful about the Pain Capable Unborn Child Protection Act in the Senate, which recently received a new prime sponsor, Democratic Sen. Jeff Van Drew.

“You need to say what matters — babies feel pain. Get them [N.J. representatives] to see the baby [model] or watch the video. Be persistent. Don’t be discouraged. People don’t know [about the horrors of abortion]. It will have an impact,” said Oroho, a parishioner of Immaculate Conception in Franklin.

After Flaherty’s presentation, Levin said, “So many of us care about the value of the unborn child in the womb but didn’t know what to do about it. The 20/20 Project gives us something practical to do that includes prayer, spreading the word and working together for a goal that is achievable with a deadline. Also, all the materials give us a greater understanding of why we are doing this [defending unborn life],” she said.